The Lonely Journey
by gaaras-lil-sand-angel
Summary: Sakura believes she is all alone in the world with nobody to care for her. She soon learns of one certain guy who cares for her as more than a friend.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey there! Its amber! This is my first story and I'm not the best at writing, but with your reviews, i can get better!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own naruto or anything of the sort. (I wish I did though. Gaara would then be mine. tehe)**

"Sakura! Order up!" called Ed, the guy behind the counter. She nodded and scurried from the other end of the counter to pick it up. Sakura was currently 17 and living alone. Her mother and father died in a fatal car accident so she has to make a living on her own. She has no other living family but has friends who try to help.

"Is there anything else I can get for you sir?" she questioned as the guy looked at his food. He shook his head and she bowed and walked away. 'Man am I ready to go home. I've been here for nearly 8 hours today. I'm so glad it's the weekend' she thought to herself as she sat on one of the metal stools at the counter. She missed her parents dearly and wished they hadn't wrecked on that stormy fall night.

-Flashback-

_They were coming home from being out of town for a week on a business trip. It was mid-October and the storms this year were really bad compared to the previous years. Sakura's mother had called her on their way home to have her make sure none of the furniture on their back patio was damaged. The phone went silent then she heard her mother's high pitched shriek and a crash. Her mother and father were hit by an 18 wheeler going 70 in a 50 mile zone. _

"_Mom?" Sakura called into the phone panicking. No response came. So she tried again and again. No answer. She panicked and started yelling for her mother, not knowing if it would do her any good. The last thing she heard before the line went dead was that her parents loved her. She broke down in tears and ran to her best friend, Naruto's house. _

"_Naru! Open up! I need to talk to you!"_

_She heard footsteps running down the hall as she continuously banged her fist on the door._

"_Saku! What is it? What's wrong?"_

"_My parents were in a wreck and I heard the whole thing. The line went dead before.."_

_She paused and continued to cry. Naruto opened his arms to his best friend and she went to him and cried until she couldn't anymore. He patted her back in an attempt to comfort her but to no avail. As her tears ceased he got her to sit on the couch and explain what happened._

-End flashback-

**Thanks for reading! please R&R! greatly appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Im sorry it took so long to update but ill start updating sooner!**

**Disclaimer: I dont own naruto or anything of the sort!**

That evening after sakura got off work, the air had gotten a lot chillier than it had been. She bundled up in her blood red hat and gloves, and pulled on her black and pink hoodie. She walked out the door and looked up at the sky as she started walking home. The air gave her a creepy feeling. She pulled out her phone and called naruto to invite him out for ramen. Of course he agreed and ran the whole way to ichiraku.

"hey naru! Ready to eat? Im buyin!"

The moment he grinned she knew his response. He ordered several things off the menu while sakura only ordered one bowl. She shook her head at how fast he could eat a bowl of ramen. Under 3 minutes was the last time she calculated.

"naruto slow down. Im not gonna take it from you. Sheesh"

"ok saku but only because I know your right."

He slurped the last bit of ramen out of his 4th bowl and stopped. He looked at sakura just staring at her ramen. She didn't look all that hungry. He got a little worried and wondered if she was blaming herself for the cause of her parents deaths again.

"saku? Are you alright? You seem a little down tonight."

"im ok naru. I promise. I just hate feeling alone. I know by now I should feel used to it but I really don't. its really hard on me to feel this bummed out when I know I should feel happier than I do. I don't wanna bring you down too."

"you don't want to be alone tonight do you saku? Its ok if you don't. you can stay with me for the night if you want to. I don't mind."

"are you sure? I appreciate this. I really do naru. You are the best friend a person could ask for. Even if you are a knuckle head."

He smiled at her and she smiled back. She looked at him and pulled out the money for the ramen and got hers and the rest of his in to go bowls. As they walked, they looked up at the stars and noticed the stars were a lot brighter than normal. They got to his house and walked inside and by looking around, anyone could tell they were best friends. There were pictures of them over the years all over the walls. She shook her head and went upstairs to the guest bedroom she used when she stayed over. She laughed as she noticed some of her clothes still hanging up in the closet. 'I guess naruto knows I stay here a lot so when I end up leaving clothes in a hurry, he hangs them up for me.' She giggled and walked back down stairs and saw naruto passed out on the couch. She grabbed a bottle of water and went back upstairs into her room and changed to go to bed. She took a drink of water before climbing into bed. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she was asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**See! I updated sooner this time! ~conquers a cookie from the subway box~**

**Disclaimer: I do not own naruto but if I did, a lot of people would really like me **

Sakura woke with a start. She looked out the window and the sun was just coming up so she figured she would go ahead and get up. She looked down at her little black and red cell phone and noticed it was blinking. 'that's odd, who would send me a message this early?' she thought to herself as she slid out of bed. She shook her head when she saw who it was from.

'Sakura, we're gonna have some company within the next few days and they are gonna be stayin here as well. Hope I didn't wake you but if I did, breakfast is already cooked downstairs and hinata is already here so go ahead and eat and ill see you later.

Naruto'

She closed her phone and walked in the hallway. She turned to go downstairs and almost ran into Hinata.

"sorry Hinata-chan I didn't see you there. How are you this morning?"

"I-Im doing ok. N-Naruto went to get some supplies for our guests. W-Would you like some breakfast?"

Sakura smiled and nodded at Hinata as her stomach rumbled and she blushed. She followed Hinata down the stairs and poured her some orange juice before sitting down at the kitchen table. As she and Hinata ate breakfast, they caught up on recent events she had missed such as Naruto's proposal to her and her almost fainting after saying yes. Sakura giggled at the thought of the young raven haired girls response to the proposal. Breakfast then went by in a quick blur and sakura soon excused herself to go take a nice hot shower. As the hot water ran over her cold skin, she thought of who would be staying here and if she would have to sleep on the couch or in a sleeping bag in the floor because she wanted to stay at narutos for another day. Her shower was short so she went into the room she stayed in and browsed her clothes. After minutes of thinking, she decided on a pair of a pink skull and crossbones shirt, black jeans and black and red converse. She tied a plaid ribbon in her short pink hair letting the red and black ribbon speak for itself.

"hey hinata. Im gonna run to my house for a little bit. Wanna come?" sakura hollered down the stairs to hinata. She grabbed her jacket and headed down the stairs. When she got down there, naruto had walked in the door.

"hey sakura! Where ya goin?" naruto asked then kissed hinata on the cheek then caused her to blush like a cherry.

"to my house. Yall wanna come? Im not gonna be there long. I just gotta check up on some stuff" she said walking to the door. To answer her question, they both grabbed their jackets and pushed her toward the door. They got to her house (which was not far at all from narutos) and sakura unlocked the door and looked around. She was trying to find her music which she wasn't allowed to take to work with her and she finally found it on her counter. She spun around to face naruto.

"hey naruto. Who all is gonna visit you? You never did tell me."

"oh right. I forgot you don't know the sabaku siblings. You never got to meet them because the way things played out" naruto said, putting the last part in a whisper.

"I can stay here with one or 2 of the siblings so your house isn't so crowded if you would like. I don't mind. I have a pretty big house." Sakura motioned her arm to show up the stairs. Naruto grinned from ear to ear. He had the perfect idea but he wasn't about to give it away to sakura who questioned him suspiciously. He shook his head and took off up her stairs. The two girls followed him carefully and watched naruto peaking into the spare bedrooms including her own bedroom. 'perfect' he thought to himself. He came back down the hall whistling when he noticed the two girls watching him suspiciously. He blushed and took hinatas hand and continued down the stairs. By now the sun was high In the sky and naruto knew his guests would be here by noon so he and hinata offered to help sakura straighten her house just in case they were to stay in her home. Sakura looked at the time and saw it was already almost 9 in the morning. Time flew by for them this morning and she knew naruto was planning something that had to do with her but she didn't quite know what it was yet.


	4. authors note

Gomen! I'm sorry I haven't written lately. My dad passed away on the 28th of January and he was my inspiration for my story. I'll write more soon. Thank you so much for understanding!


	5. authors note 2

**I'm sorry I didn't keep my promise! I've had a lot going on! For example, I had my baby! For those of you who don't look at my profile, I had my daughter in June 4****th**** and so I've been busy watching and taking care of her! I have chapter four written but its not very long and it will be posted tomorrow! I promise or the purple painted swan beside me will come alive and eat me! ~smiles~ Anywho, I hope yall like chapter four. I finally got my inspiration back cuz of my baby girl. She looks like the spittin image of my daddy when he was a baby. Ja ne!**

**Gaaras-lil-sand-angel**


	6. Chapter 4

**Sorry that I haven't written in a while. Ive been super busy with work and raising my baby. I finally got a new laptop after my old one crashed. I have big news too! I got engaged! Yay! Well I hope you enjoy chapter 4! Well the real chapter 4. Ja ne!**

They finished retrieving Sakura's music and headed back to Naruto's house to prepare lunch for themselves and the Sabaku's. Sakura didn't know how many Sabaku siblings there were so she just guessed and said 2 or 3. As they ate lunch, she noticed Naruto kept grinning and looking at her.

"Ok Naruto. Quit looking at me like that. Why are you grinning like that anyway?"

Before he could answer, there was a soft knock on the door. She and Hinata walked behind Naruto to greet the visitors. She was confused on why Naruto was so excited.

"Sakura, this is Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara. They are the Sabaku siblings I was telling you about."

"Hi there. Nice to meet you." she quietly stated while looking at them. She noticed Temari, the girl with her hair in 4 pigtails, hitting Kankuro upside the head for a joke he had made. She noticed Naruto watching Hinata who was attempting to make a conversation with a very quiet redhead. She smiled at the redhead who looked up at her when he noticed her staring. He nodded his head in slight acknowledgment. She took in a moment to observe the three siblings. Temari had her dirty blonde hair in four pigtails, while wearing a purple and red tank top, black shorts and black and yellow converse. Kankuro had a grey shirt underneath a long black hoodie with cat ears on the hood which currently resided on his head of spiky black hair. On his face was purple makeup. He also wore black cargo pants and grey converse. Gaara had his crimson red hair spiked to the point it looked like he just woke up. Upon his face was a tattoo for the kanji 'love'. Around his eyes was what looked eyeliner. He had on a lighter red than his hair t-shirt and black pants with chains. On his feet were black and blood red converse. As she observed them, they observed her. They took in her short pink hair and believed it was dyed. Her pink skull and crossbones shirt hung off her right shoulder and exposed some of her midriff and her black jeans were low cut and covered most of her black and red converse. The ribbon in her hair tied the look together and Gaara watched her carefully through guarded eyes.

"Well I guess I should introduce myself. I'm Sakura."

"I'm Temari," the blonde girl replied then spoke again.

"That's Kankuro with the cat ears on his hoodie and the other is Gaara."

She smiled at Sakura who smiled again in response. They already knew Naruto and Hinata. Sakura looked down at her own black and red converse out of nervousness.

"Are you guys staying here or at Sakura-chan's house?" Hinata asked while slightly poking her fingers together in the way she used to do around Naruto. Gaara looked to the slightly nervous girls then to his siblings.

"Temari and Kankuro will stay here. I will stay at Sakura's."

"Gaara-"

She and Kankuro both knew how Gaara could be and didn't want the poor girl to get hurt.

"Are you sure-"

"I'm sure. Naruto, Temari, Kankuro..I promise I'm sure. I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself." Sakura said before she walked back to her home with them behind her. She arrived and started to walk up the stairs within the house. They all followed with Gaara being first. She walked into the bedroom across from hers and put Gaara's bag down by the purple and black door. Gaara shook his head. 'this girl loves black I guess' he thought. He walked into the room and looked around. The walls were black with a silver moon and stars painted on them. There was a king sized bed against one wall. Along the opposite wall was a dresser and a desk. Also on that wall between the dresser and the desk was a door to the closet. The wall behind the bed held a huge window. The door to the bathroom was close to the foot of the bed. He eyed the bed cautiously. Who would need a king sized bed they don't even use? The bed was made with red silk sheets and a black frame. He looked to Sakura who smiled sheepishly.

"Gomen. I like black a little." He nodded and walked out of the room. As the day progressed, they went to (you guessed it!) Ichiraku's for lunch. The day ended with the 6 of them taking a walk. She had learned Temari was the oldest and was very protective. Kankuro had tried flirting with Sakura which had resulted with a few slaps to the back of the head by Temari. Gaara stayed quiet as he walked behind everyone. As they got home, Sakura excused herself and went to take a shower while Gaara slowly went to his room. When Sakura came out of the bathroom, she had on a black tank top that said "cute but dangerous" and some pink pajama pants with a black broken heart on the side. She lay down on her bed and instantly fell into a light slumber.


End file.
